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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

This article about the IPL Twenty20 Cricket Tournament Match between Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Dardevils played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 16th April Evening was first published on ESPNcricinfo Website on April 17, 2012.

No satisfaction in a quickie

What a bummer when a highly anticipated match between two
heavyweights turns out to be a dud

Choice of game
Both the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi
Daredevils have a lot of star players, like Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith
Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Richard Levi, Virender
Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor. I
thought the
match would be an exciting contest between two evenly balanced
teams, with loads of hitting, fours, sixes and wickets.

Also, this was the first IPL match I watched live in a stadium. I
went with 12 friends to make the experience more exciting and
enjoyable.

Team supported
Mumbai, because they are my home team.

Key performerMan of the Match Shahbaz
Nadeem, the Daredevils' left-arm spinner, bowled a tight spell
opening spell in which he took two wickets and ensured Mumbai never
got to a start. Another standout performer was Mumbai captain
Harbhajan Singh, for while he was at the crease, it looked like
Mumbai would put up a competitive total.

One thing I'd have changedI'd have played both
Tendulkar and Malinga. Mumbai didn't look like the champion team they
are supposed to be without their two star players. Tendulkar's
presence makes a huge difference to the team and the spectators. Get
well soon, Sachin. We want to see you playing for Mumbai in the next
match.

Wow momentThe Mexican wave around the stadium was
exciting.

Close encounterFor the Daredevils, Morne Morkel and
Pietersen fielded near the boundary where I was sitting. And for
Mumbai, it was Levi. It is very easy to recognise these tall players
even from a distance.
Levi ran to his left and dived to save what looked like a certain
boundary from a Sehwag cut shot, keeping it to a single. That was the
fielding save of the match.

Shot of the dayOnly one shot went skywards in the
match, played by Sehwag, and it ended up being a catch at long-on for
Levi.

Crowd meterThe stands were packed and the support for
Mumbai was excellent. A spectator seated a few rows ahead of me
seemed to be enjoying every moment of the match irrespective of which
team was doing better. He was blowing on the bugle every now and then
and dancing on his seat. He celebrated boundaries as well as wickets,
and it was nice to see him enjoy the match that way.

EntertainmentThe DJ tried to cheer up Mumbai and boost
their morale by playing "Yahan Ke Hum Sikander" from
the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
During the mid-innings break, some fans got the opportunity to
take catches off Mumbai batsmen and to keep the ball they caught.

ODIs or Twenty20sI prefer Twenty20s because the game is
completed in three hours, unlike ODIs and Tests which occupy your
whole day. You can watch a T20 after office hours, and thus enjoy a
good evening out too. And there is entertainment guaranteed in T20
via hits to the fence.

Banner of the dayThere was a banner that looked like a
dartboard. It said a prize of Rs10,000 will be given to anyone who
hits the target. It was probably an incentive offered to Mumbai's
batsmen to go out and play their shots and hit the target. But
unfortunately, that didn't happen.

TV v stadiumI'd recommend watching in stadium any time,
especially if you go with a big group of people. You cannot relive
the excitement, the buzz around the ground, the energy, the crowd's
enthusiasm, the wacky humour associated with a certain player or a
team if you are watching the match on TV. A three-hour match in a
packed stadium is as good as watching a blockbuster movie in a
theatre.

The low-scorersIt's probably too early to judge, but
after this match I recalled the words of IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla
before the tournament. He said the fifth season of the IPL was
probably going to be the best so far because the governing council
had instructed stadium curators to prepare 160-run pitches so that
the crowds will get entertained by all the fours and sixes. Perhaps
the curators are sending him a message to not tell them what to do.

Marks out of 106, mainly because of the experience of
watching the match live in a stadium. I would have scored it better
had the match been more competitive, had Mumbai scored more runs, and
had Sachin and Malinga played.